Everyone can dance.
Not everyone can talk about
who they are without it.

Read this before anything else in this module

By the time you're in an interview, you've already made the team dance-wise. Everyone left in that room is a good dancer — the medals, the titles, the years of training don't separate you anymore. So what does?

Show them who you are without the dance. What makes you, you? Your family? What have you had to overcome to even be sitting in that chair?

Here's mine, as an example: I'm the oldest of six kids, from a family that went through divorce. A lot of who I am has been built from what I've had to carry and overcome because of that — and I would never be afraid to talk about it. My family is African American and Polynesian, and my Polynesian culture isn't a side note to who I am — it's a core part of me. I bring it up because it's true, not because it sounds good.

Being real will beat being "fake" every single time. Fake sounds like an answer that could belong to anyone — safe, rehearsed, sanded down until there's nothing left to actually remember. Real is specific. It's a detail that only exists because it happened to you. A coach can't fact-check a rehearsed answer against anything, but they'll remember the one true detail long after interview day is over.

• What has genuinely shaped who you are — your family, where you're from, what you've been through?
• What have you had to overcome to get to this room?
• What's true about you that you'd never be afraid to say out loud?

Just you, the panel, and sometimes team captains

This is the most personal format — a real conversation, not a script recitation. It's also the one where follow-up questions matter most.

• Treat it like a conversation, not a Q&A recitation — let it breathe
• Eye contact with everyone in the room, not just whoever asked
• Let follow-ups build naturally off your last answer instead of resetting each time
• If a panel member reacts to something you said, notice it — that's a thread worth continuing
• Silence for a second or two before answering reads as composed, not unsure
• End strong — your last answer is often what they remember most

You, alongside other candidates, answering together

The skill being tested here isn't just your answers — it's how you share space with other girls who want the same spot you do.

• Speak up. Going quiet and disappearing into the group is the most common mistake
• Don't dominate every question either — coaches are watching how you share the floor
• Build on what someone else said when it genuinely fits — it shows you actually listen
• This is not a competition with the girls next to you. Show you can bond with them and mesh well as a group — that's exactly what a coach wants to see in a future teammate
• Support another girl's answer with a nod or a smile — small, real, not performative
• If you're asked something after someone gave a similar answer, don't panic — add your own angle instead of repeating theirs

A written portion instead of, or alongside, a spoken interview

Same substance, different format. Your answers still need real thought behind them — it's just as easy to write a generic answer as it is to say one.

• Don't rush through it — treat it with the same care as a spoken answer
• Specific, honest answers beat generic ones on paper too
• Reread before turning it in — typos and half-finished thoughts stand out on a page in a way they don't in speech
• Bring your own pen. Small thing, but don't be caught without one
• If there's a time limit, skim every question first so you can pace yourself instead of running out of time on the last one
• Handwriting matters more than you'd think — legible beats rushed